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WBC's flames produce little heat

Church's holy book/flag burning draws little public, media interest

PHIL ANDERSON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Holding a Quran in his right hand and a pamphlet on Islam in his left hand, Umar McKloskey, of Chapman, stood Saturday on the southeast corner of S.W. 12th and Orleans while counter-protesters and members of Westboro Baptist Church were across the street. McKloskey and others came in response to Westboro Baptist Church members burning a Quran and an American flag at noon Saturday.

PHIL ANDERSON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

A couple dozen church members and a handful of media representatives were at Westboro Baptist Church on Saturday as church members burned an American flag and copy of the Quran in a fire pit on a basketball court just north of the church building.

PHIL ANDERSON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Counter-protesters shared the southwest corner of S.W. 12th and Orleans with members of Westboro Baptist Church.

PHIL ANDERSON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Shirley Phelps-Roper tended to a fire pit during a burning of the Quran and American flag Saturday afternoon at a basketball court on the north side of Westboro Baptist Church.

President Barack Obama didn't weigh in like he did when a pastor in Florida threatened to burn the Quran. And Defense Secretary Robert Gates didn't make a personal phone call urging the same minister to call it off.

The burning of a Quran and an American flag Saturday by members of Westboro Baptist Church drew little visible interest. Instead of the hoards of media representatives that descended on Florida, only a handful of area reporters turned out at noon for Westboro's burning.

"I'm glad it didn't get a lot of publicity and it didn't draw a lot of people to the church," said Imam Omar Hazim, of the Islamic Center of Topeka. "It seemed people in Topeka ignored what they were doing."

Members of Topeka's Islamic community were absent from the event. Hazim said that was by design.

Hazim learned Friday morning of Westboro Baptist's plans to burn the Quran. He said he mentioned the plans in his 1 p.m. sermon Friday, which was Id al-Fitr, a holiday marking the end of the month of Ramadan, and he asked local Muslims to stay away from Saturday's event.

"If we had 40 or 50 of us there and they started getting angry, things could get out of control," Hazim said. "So I told them to ignore it."

Mayor Bill Bunten, who was at home watching The University of Kansas football game during the burning, said national attention on Westboro Baptist is waning.

"The fool in Florida one-upped them," Bunten said, referring to the Rev. Terry Jones, of the Dove Outreach Center church in Gainesville, Fla. "They were apparently tagging along on his idea, so the fellow in Florida had stolen the stage, so to speak."

The mayor said Westboro Baptist events are "kind of old hat now."

During the burning of the Quran and the flag, Westboro Baptist members sang parodies of familiar hymns and patriotic songs. Meanwhile, Umar McKloskey, of Chapman, held his own silent counterprotest on a corner across the street.

McKloskey, 56, positioned himself on the southeast corner of S.W. 12th and Orleans, holding a copy of the Quran in his right hand and a pamphlet on Islam in his left as he faced westbound motorists who were passing by on S.W. 12th.

"I'm here to promote the Quran, in respect of the fact that there are people here who want to disrespect the Quran," said McKloskey, who came with several family members. "We want to let people know the Quran is worthy of respect.

"It contains the names of not only Muhammad but also Jesus, Mary, Moses, Abraham, Adam — in fact, all of the prophets. Anyone attacking the Quran — it's like attacking the Bible, because these are people who are prominently mentioned in the Bible, as well."

A few other counterprotesters, some waving flags, also turned out to show support for America on the sunny afternoon, which marked the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. One counterprotester held a sign that read, "Honk If You Love Our Country."

A fire pit was positioned on a basketball court inside a fenced-in area just north of Westboro Baptist, 3701 S.W. 12th. In the pit were a copy of the Quran and an American flag.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, of Westboro Baptist, announced earlier in the week plans to burn a Quran and an American flag — saying they were examples of "idols" people worship today.

The announcement came as Jones, the Florida minister, canceled plans for a public Quran burning. Jones had been implored by religious and political leaders to call off burning the Qurans amid worldwide media coverage.

As scheduled, the Quran and American flag were burned at noon Saturday at Westboro Baptist. Phelps-Roper squirted additional lighter fluid on the Quran several times when the flames went out.

About three dozen people, mostly church members, were on hand inside the fenced-in area for the event, which lasted about 20 minutes. In addition to The Topeka Capital-Journal, three local television stations covered the event.

"I thought it was awesome," Shirley Phelps-Roper said afterward. "It was another 14 on a scale of 10."

A Topeka police car cruised past the church at least two times, but besides some yelling back and forth, there were no major confrontations.

Phelps-Roper said she was glad some came who disagreed with the church's message.

"I love that — everybody saying what they have to say," she said.

Phelps-Roper questioned those who believed the church's event was being ignored, based on e-mail messages it had been receiving and the amount of online traffic it was generating.

"We get e-mails when things are happening here," she said. "We've had just a huge upsurge in e-mails. Plus, it's all over the Internet. It's all over Twitter."

An official with the U.S. Justice Department from Kansas City, Mo., was on hand to monitor the event. Afterward, the official met with local Muslim leaders at the Islamic Center of Topeka, 1115 S.E. 27th.

Shaun Crouse was among the counterprotesters who came to the corner of S.W. 12th and Orleans. He exchanged words several times with members of Westboro Baptist, who stood holding signs on the same corner.

"There's already a holy war going on overseas," Crouse said. "Provoking it is not what we need to do.

"I understand freedom of speech, but this is wrong. Burning the Quran — that's somebody's holy book. What would you do if someone burned the Bible, the holy book of Christianity? You'd be pretty upset, too."

While the protesters were going back and forth at S.W. 12th and Orleans, Bob Krische, 58, mowed the grass in front of his home, directly across the street from the church.

In mowing his yard, Krische was staging his own form of a protest.

"This is what a real American does on a Saturday," Krische said. "He doesn't want to, but he starts that doggone lawn mower up, he mows his yard, and then he gets a cold one, and life is good."

Anna Massey, 45, of Topeka, was another counterprotester. She waved her American flag to show support for the country and its troops.

She said she had two sons in the military, one who served in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan, and both are home safe now.

"I was glad to see other people here supporting America," she said. "This isn't just Topeka, it's America, and God bless us."